Volume 48, Issue 3

Anxiety, motivation, and strategy have long been seen as critical in second language acquisition. This study presents a systematic review of the literature on these variables in terms of their relationship with one another, their effects on learning outcomes, and how they are affected by technology-assisted tools in the teaching of Chinese as a second language. This study includes 24 articles for the review study based on the criteria and process of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocol (PRISMA-P) and the clustering techniques of VOSviewer. It is found that 1) anxiety, motivation, and strategy were interrelated, that is, motivation was negatively associated with anxiety but positively related to strategy, while strategy could positively predict anxiety; 2) anxiety could both positively and negatively affect learning outcomes, while motivation and strategy could both positively and insignificantly influence learning outcomes; 3) the technology-assisted tools used in the classroom could both positively and negatively affect the levels of these variables and learning outcomes in the L2 Chinese context. The need to explore more complicated relationships between language-specific individual variables themselves and other possible factors that affect these variables, such as cultural ones, are also discussed for future research.

Chinese as a Foreign Language (CFL) education is a fragile undertaking across all stages of Australian schooling, and the crux of limited sustained success rests on, amongst all other factors, the textbook-based, teacher-directed classroom discourse. Highly abstract educational policies pose challenges for teachers to translate into practice, and the developed learning activities neither meet students’ demands for future careers and social lives, nor guarantee classroom cooperation or compliance. This paper takes up these concerns and attempts to articulate the possibilities of shifting pedagogic discourses to make Chinese learnable for students from low socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. By applying Bernstein’s conceptualization of vertical and horizontal discourses (1999), I present two vignettes from a research project designed to induct underprivileged students into CFL learning in an Australian primary classroom. The potentially useful knowledge of Chinese language and culture was reorganized to constitute worthwhile pedagogical tools, interweaving both formal and informal discourses for students, recognizing relevance in personal and school lives. By offering a convincing explanation of effective CFL and its affordances for social equity and just education, this paper makes an original contribution to scholarly debate around structuring the CFL curriculum in the global context.

Intonation refers to the use of supra-segmental features to convey pragmatic meanings at the sentence level in a linguistically structured way. The difference in intonation between the native language and a foreign language may influence second language learners’ acquisition of intonation. The purpose of this study is to explore the similarities and differences at the level of phonological representation between English and Chinese intonation systems. This study investigated English and Chinese intonation systems, respectively, from both form and meaning under the Auto-Segmental Metrical framework by referring to previous studies and illustrating examples. The results showed that in terms of form, there were notable differences in the structural elements and their inventories between the intonation systems of English and Chinese. In terms of meaning, assertions were represented by different structural elements in English and Chinese intonation systems; the types of structural elements in English intonation possessed the capability to convey complex and subtle meanings, contrasting with the comparatively simpler nature of Chinese intonation.The results reveal that Chinese EFL learners demonstrate considerable difficulties in the production of the structural elements of English intonation and their combinations due to L1 intonation interference.

Online interactive learning plays a crucial role in improving online education quality. This grounded theory study examines: (1) what key factors shape EFL learners’ online interactive learning, (2) how these factors form an empirically validated model, and (3) how they interact within this model, through systematic analysis of 9, 207 discussion forum posts from a Chinese University MOOC platform. Results demonstrate that learning drive, course structure, teaching competence, interaction behavior, expected outcomes, and online learning context significantly influence EFL online interactive learning. The analysis reveals two key mechanisms: expected outcomes mediate the effects of learning drive ( β = 0.45), course structure, teaching competence, and interaction behavior ( β = 0.35) on learning outcomes, while online learning context moderates these relationships ( β = 0.25). Specifically, learning drive provides intrinsic/extrinsic motivation, whereas course structure, teaching competence, interaction behavior, and expected outcomes collectively enhance interaction quality and sustainability. These findings, derived through rigorous grounded theory methodology involving open, axial, and selective coding of large-scale interaction data, yield three key contributions: (1) a comprehensive theoretical model of EFL online learning dynamics, (2) empirical validation of mediation/moderation mechanisms, and (3) practical strategies for designing scaffolded interaction protocols and adaptive feedback systems. The study establishes that its theoretically saturated model (achieved after analyzing 7, 366 posts with 1, 841 verification cases) offers educators evidence-based approaches to optimize collaborative interaction in digital EFL environments.

The learning of English academic vocabulary has been the focus of numerous studies from the time Coxhead (2000) developed the academic word list to the present day. Various researchers have emphasized the importance of possessing academic vocabulary knowledge for academic success. Recognizing this importance, it is crucial for researchers, teachers, and learners to understand the progress made in academic word lists. This systematic review first identifies, describes, appraises, and synthesizes the development of academic word lists from 2000 to 2020. It then examines the methods used by researchers in developing academic word lists among 56 studies that meet the pre-established criteria. The word lists were classified based on some criteria such as word counting units, corpora types/sizes, and exclusion criteria. Limitations, suggestions for further study, and implications are also discussed. Additionally, recommendations for future word list establishment are provided to help advance the field of word list development.

Discourse markers (DMs) in many languages have been investigated from various theoretical perspectives and within diverse methodological paradigms for decades. Studies within the field of DMs are accelerating rapidly; however, few state-of-the-art reviews have been conducted to systematically inform scholars of the current landscape of DM research. This investigation conducted a comprehensive review of 2, 183 studies from 2009 to 2022, leveraging CiteSpace for bibliometric analysis. The study aims to illuminate emerging trends and focal areas within DM research and lay the groundwork for further interdisciplinary exploration and collaboration in this area. The analysis reveals a growing interest in DM studies, identifies leading contributors, including countries, universities, and scholars, highlights the most cited journals and references shaping the field, and delineates prevalent research themes and topics, as well as methodological approaches employed. These findings indicate that DM research has evolved from a linguistic inquiry into an interdisciplinary domain employing varied methodologies such as qualitative and/or quantitative, experimental, and synchronic and/or diachronic. This study can provide important implications for future research in terms of the pragmatic turn, interdisciplinary nature, expansion of data from English to various other languages, and diversified methodologies.